Reckless Sins
by s-carlet-startlet
Summary: To Clove Cresta, a client is a client. No matter who she is dealing with, she demands they play by her rules or she will destroy them before they have a chance to say "rumor has it". Cato Davis, however, intends to play on his own terms. Modern Day Clato.
1. Chapter 1

"How on Earth did you manage to get Clove Cresta to come to your party?" Gale Hawthorne gaped at Peeta Mellark, causing all of those standing within hearing distance to snap their head to the backdoor of the Mellark residence.

Standing at just five feet and two inches tall, Clove Cresta somehow managed to look as though she were on a stage at all times. She was a performer who was able to manipulate her audience all while acting as though many of them did not exist.

Peeta shrugs, "She's my best friend."

"But she doesn't usually go to parties." Gale says. "She's above hanging out with most of us."

Providing a reasonable answer to the question everyone was wondering, 'what made Clove step foot into a party', was the tall curvy blonde trailing behind Clove. "Glimmer must have dragged her here." Peeta concludes with a sad smile. He could only hope that the brunette had came to see him on her own freewill.

"Glimmer must've dressed her as well." Marvel Stone mutters, caught a bit off guard by her uncharacteristically slutty get up.

"Well she did a great job dressing her then…" Cato Davis smirks slightly, eyeing her in a gold bikini covered by a sheer black off the shoulder teeshirt.

Rolling his eyes at Cato's comment, Marvel cups his hands around his mouth. "Hey Cresta, where are your clothes?" He yells teasingly.

"Hey Stone, where is the money you promised me?" Clove yells back as she makes her way over to the outdoor counter lined with the barstools in which the boys were seated on.

Marvel's face pales just slightly. "Damn it, Clove. Lower your voice, I don't want the world to know I'm your client." He hisses.

"Oh, but Marvel, if you don't pay me back within the next three days the world will know you are my client as well as the fact that a drunk Glimmer denied your offer to hookup." She smirks in response.

With a sigh, Marvel runs a hand through his hair. "We're friends, Clover. Shouldn't you be helping me out for free?"

She rolls her eyes, finding his attempt to gain pity absolutely pathetic. "Even if my parents came back from six feet under and needed my business, I'd make them pay. A client is a client."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Cato looks back and forth between the two brunettes.

_Client?_ What kind of business could Clove Cresta be running?

Before he has a chance to learn anything else or even get the slightest idea of what was going on, Gale changed the subject in an attempt to save Marvel. "So I see you and Glimmer seemed to resolve things…"

"Without me Glim is nothing more than boobs and a butt. At least she is smart enough to realize it and came crawling back to me no more than a day after the rumor." Clove explains.

As usual, Clove acted as though Glimmer didn't mean a single thing to her, because she felt that relying on someone made her appear weak and unable to handle things herself. This exact reason is why Clove uses Glimmer for nothing more than gossip sessions, fashion advice, and latte runs. Glimmer on the other hand, desperately needed Clove in order to maintain a high status at Panem Preparatory. Not to mention, if you are on Clove's good side she will be less likely to ruin your life.

"Harsh." Cato muses, impressed by her response where as the other three boys seemed slightly appalled.

"I don't remember asking your opinion, Davis." Clove scoffs.

A smirk pulls at his lips as he registers that she knows his name.

_The girl who gave a select few people the time of day knew his name._

While part of him was pleased, another part of him was irritated. Sure he has only been attending Panem Preparatory for the first month of senior year, but he is Cato Davis; captain of the varsity football team, friends with nearly all the high status students, and quite attractive. Given his reputation and place on the social ladder, Clove should know a lot more about Cato than just his last name. He also couldn't help to feel as though he should know a lot more about _her_.

Watching the smirk appear on Cato's face, Clove could feel her usual scowl forming on her own face.

Holding out a hand, Cato gives her a wink. "I don't believe I have formally introduced myself, which is strange considering we share many mutual friends and even sit by each other in a few classes. I usually prefer to be called Cato, but you can call me whatever you want."

Clove slaps his hand away. "Cut the crap, Cato, I'm pretty sure formal isn't your style."

His smirk turns into a full on grin when she calls him by his first name.

Most say gaining the attention of Clove Cresta for just a few seconds is a challenge, but Cato Davis had her for an entire two minutes and was determined to get more.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hi lovelies! This is my very first story... So please leave reviews and let me know what you think and if I should continue or not. I have so many ideas for this, so any constructive criticism is much appreciated. Also, just as a side not, Clove is NOT a prostitute. **


	2. Chapter 2

For Cato Davis girls were something to look at, something to mess around with, and certainly _not_ something to get emotionally involved with.

He had never been in an actual relationship, he had never felt any extreme emotions for a girl, he had never been unable to keep a girl off his mind, he had never cared about a girl. He had certainly never been intrigued by a girl before, at least not until now.

There was only a small handful of things he knew about Clove: she runs some sort of business, she is not willing to help anyone, her parents are no longer living, she doesn't usually go to parties, she does not waste her time on anyone, and she is a closed book. Most girls Cato "interacted" with were easy to read and only used for hours at a time. The little information he knew about Clove was enough for him to know that she was different and would take a lot of work to figure out. This prospect both irritated and excited him.

Much to his dismay, Clove had left the small party no more than thirty minutes after arriving, leaving him with many questions that he would have to retrieve from a different source. Not that Clove would have told him anything in the first place.

His first source of information was currently standing right in front of him, half-heartedly scrubbing away at the kitchen counter.

"Need any help?" Cato asks, not wanting to help, just wanting information.

Marvel shakes his head. "No, I got it. Besides, you already put the cover back over the pool and cleaned the outdoor counter."

Nodding slightly, Cato doesn't find it necessary to say that he didn't give Peeta and Gale a hand with covering the pool and cleaning the outdoor counter. Instead, he leans forward a bit and smirks slightly. "So Marvel, what's this whole client business you and the little demanding one were talking about?" He asked, hoping to get some answers to his questions without making it completely obvious that he wants to know more about Clove.

"It's really none of your business." Marvel says firmly, still looking down at the counter. Being one with many secrets, both his own as well as the secrets of others, Marvel was only willing to reveal information if he got some in return. This left Cato with one option; telling the brunette of his real intentions.

"Look, this isn't about you." Cato rolls his eyes before lowering his voice. "This is about Clove."

"Clove?" Marvel snaps his head up, looking at Cato quizzically.

"Yes, Clove. I just want to try to figure her out." He sighs, deciding it would be worth it to admit his curiosity if it meant learning more about her.

It took two seconds until Marvel erupted into laughter, causing Cato to immediately regret saying anything and his liking for Marvel Stone dropped like a hat. "Nobody has ever been able to figure Clove out." Marvel states once his dark laughter ceased.

Cato raises an eyebrow. "Nobody? Not even Peeta?"

"Not even Peeta." Marvel confirms, tossing the dirty paper towel into the trash bin. "Although, he is much closer to understanding her than anyone else has ever been."

Clove Cresta sounded like a challenge; a challenge Cato Davis was more than willing to take on. Unfortunately, there was little to no chance he would be able to figure her out with the little amount of information he had on her. Right now, Marvel was his biggest asset, the only person who not only knew but might possibly explain Clove and the business she is running.

"I'm not going to tell you what the business is, otherwise I'd be here all night explaining the various details of Clove's legacy." Marvel says, anticipating Cato's next question.

"I've got time."

"Well I don't. I need to find a way to pay Clove for her services."

Cato lets out an irritated sigh. He wouldn't get all the answers tonight, but maybe he could at least preserver and try to gather a bit of information. As he recalled from earlier that evening, Clove had demanded for money. Perhaps the need for money is the root of her business. "So she does it for the money?" He asks. "The business, I mean." With her high end wardrobe and obvious taste for luxury, Cato never would've pinned Clove for someone who needed any extra money.

"God no." Marvel snorts. "Her parents left her more than enough money."

It was the perfect lead in to find out exactly what happened to her mother and father. "How did her parents..." He trails off, unable to formulate a respectable way to enquire how her parents had passed away. Picking up on his discomfort, Marvel decides to put Cato's curiosity to rest.

"Car accident." He says, a solemn look suddenly appearing on his face. "It was dark, roads were icy, and a huge semi truck ran them off the road."

Rarely one to feel sympathy for anyone, Cato was caught off guard by the small drop of his stomach. He had lost his father and he could not imagine what it would be like to loose both parents. "Is that why she is so..." Once again he cannot find a proper way to ask one of the many questions running through his mind. Not only was Clove was nearly impossible to describe, but he needed to phrase it in a polite enough way that Marvel might give him answers. "Guarded, stubborn, secretive..." Marvel finishes, earning a nod from Cato. "Clove has always been like that, but ever since the accident she has been cutting people off more than usual." He answers with a small frown. "I have no idea how she feels at the moment, but I know that her parents' passing nearly destroyed her."

"Destroyed her?" Cato repeats with a slight smirk, finding it to be uncharacteristic as well as great gossip that Clove Cresta does not live up to her invincible facade.

Little did he know, when it comes to gossip and the spreading of rumors, Clove is not one to mess with. In fact, her clients often think of her as the queen of gossip and rumors.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites! Please continue to tell me what you think! So this was another short chapter, but I wanted to get in a bit of background information. Next chapter will be much longer and there will be quite a bit of interaction between Clove Cresta and Cato Davis. ALSO, the business Clove is running will be revealed (although I gave you a major hint...). **

**xx**


	3. Chapter 3

Clove owned Saturday mornings.

Like every other time of the week, everyone is expected to abide by her rules. However if one were to disrupt the flow of her Saturday morning, their punishment would be five times more severe simply because Saturday mornings are _her_ time.

Beginning with Finnick Odair, her older sister's fiancé, waking her up at precisely ten o'clock, the morning was right on track. Everything continued to remain as scheduled until around 11:45 when Clove's viewing of the Entertainment channel was interrupted.

"Clover?" Finnick calls from the front door of the Cresta estate.

"What?!" Clove snaps from the living room.

"People are here to see you."

Slamming the cardboard coffee cup containing her usual nonfat latte onto the glass coffee table, Clove takes her time standing up. If someone was so inconsiderate to disrupt her, she would have absolutely no problem wasting their time. Knowing well enough not to interfere with Clove's stubborn and often violent behavior, Finnick allows her to take her sweet time and refrains from sighing as she stomps over to the front door.

"Who the hell would be so stupid to-" The sight of Cato and Glimmer standing at her front door cut her off. "Glim, do you know what morning it is?" She asks in a sickeningly sweet voice, completely ignoring Cato for the moment.

"Saturday morning..." Glimmer answers, the smile slipping off her face. "I brought you honey lemonade and a caprese salad, oh and a baguette." She says quickly, holding up a bag with the logo of the nearby organic foods cafe and a large baguette from Mellark Baked Goods peeking out. Biting her bottom lip nervously, waiting to see if her offerings were enough to subside Clove's annoyance with her, at least for the time being.

"Fine." Clove snatches the bag from her and takes a look inside. "You're off the hook this time Glimmer."

With a sigh of relief, Glimmer smiles at Clove and steps inside without waiting for an invitation.

"Hello to you too." Cato speaks up with an eye roll, a bit put off that she hasn't even glanced at him since his arrival.

Narrowing her eyes, she sets down the bad and puts her hands on her hips. Why on God's green Earth was Cato Davis at her house. "My apologies. How can I help you, Davis?" She asks sarcastically. Smirking at her, Cato steps into her house and right up to her. Even up close, Clove was still hard to read. Although her emerald green eyes only held the emotion of irritation, he was sure that she was feeling a bit confused and hopefully enchanted by his good looks. As captivating as her strong gaze was, he was drawn to the freckles sprinkled across her nose. They made her seem almost innocent. _Almost_.

"Your freckles are cute." He blatantly flirts, breaking the silence and earning him a strange look from Finnick, a giggle from Glimmer, and an unamused glare from Clove. _  
_

"On that note," Finnick mutters uncomfortably, "I'm going to go pick up Annie from therapy and take her to lunch."

Clove nods, not taking her eyes off Cato. "Okay, see you later, Finn." And with that, Finnick heads out the door.

Trying his best to ignore the death glare he was receiving, Cato continues to study the brunette. Her long dark hair falls down her back in natural waves, her nail french tipped, and she somehow managed to look high fashioned in black shorts and an oversized cashmere sweater.

"Take a picture, it will last longer." Clove scoffs, causing Cato to raise his eyes. Only meeting his eyes for a split second, Clove quickly looks over to Glimmer. "Why is he here?" She demands, to which Glimmer gives a smug smile.

"I ran into him at Mellark Baked Goods and he had all sorts of questions about you and your business. Since he's hot, I decided to bring him over here so he could ask you himself." She responds, thinking she had done her friend a huge favor by bringing an attractive guy to her house. Clove on the other hand, thought having Cato in her house, no matter how nice he is to look at, very inconvenient.

"Glimmer. Get him out of my house." She orders.

"But, Clover!" Glimmer whines. "He's cute and he's interested in you!"

"For the last time, Glim! I don't need your help finding a boyfriend! I don't even need a boyfriend!"

Grabbing onto Cato's hand, Glimmer shoots a frustrated look at Clove. "Fine, then I'll keep him for myself!" Not wanting to be the blonde's latest boy toy, Cato was quick too pull his hand away. "Actually, Clove. I'm interested in being your client." He says. "Or even your assistant."

"For all you know I could be prostitute." Clove points out with raised eyebrows.

"I'm okay with that."

Slapping a hand over her face, Clove groans, "Oh my God." Among the very short things in which she was unable to hide her emotions were sexual jokes that she was the subject for. Maybe it was her lack of experience with guys or the fact that Cato may or may not have been completely serious. Whatever the reason, her cheeks were now a light shade of pink. Turning around quickly, so that neither Glimmer or Cato would see the color rising in her face, she heads up the staircase. About halfway up the flight of stairs, when her slight embarrassment had died down, she realized that nobody was following her. "Do you want to know about my business or not?" She scowls impatiently, not even looking back to watch them rapidly follow behind her.

As he made his way up the stairs, Cato looked at the various framed photographs hanging on the wall. They all seemed to be recent, taken within the last year or so. Not a single picture contained her deceased parents, rather they captured moments of Clove winning track meets, Annie being proposed to, the two sisters embracing, and Finnick giving Clove a piggyback ride on the beach. It seemed a bit odd to him that there were no memories of her parents on the wall. To somebody who walked into the home with no knowledge of the Cresta family past it would seem that Annie, Finnick, and Clove were it. The only members of the family.

Clove's room also lacked any memories of her parents. The lavender painted walls held nothing more than shelves filled with track awards and a few framed photographs of her with Peeta and a girl he recognized to be Johanna Mason. His eyes scanned over the rest of her room. With a queen sized bed covered in pristine white sheets and a black fluffy blanket, a white vanity, and a glass desk with the latest MAC laptop, her room was very soft and delicate; he had almost expected her to be living in some sort of dark place underground.

"Stop looking at my room and come in here." Clove demands. "Come on, I don't have all day."

With an eye roll, Cato does as she says and walks into her rather large walkin closet. Glimmer was already inside what was more of a miniature boutique than a closet, looking through color organized shoes that would most likely not fit her.

Clove stood at the back left of the closet, entering passcodes into a large safe connected to her wall and occasionally looking over her shoulder to make sure Glimmer wasn't trying to force her size eight feet into size five shoes.

Once the safe finally opens, Cato's jaw drops. Stacks of smooth dollar bills filled nearly the entire proximity of the case. "Your business earned you all that money?"

Clove nods with a smirk.

The curiosity was killing him. What type of business was this girl running? Before he has a chance to open his mouth, Clove begins to speak.

"Around eleven months ago Finnick, Annie's fiancé, was telling me about a little business he ran when he was an upperclassman in high school. Times were tough on his family and even though he had a great scholarship due to his swimming and football skills, he needed a bit of extra money in order to pay his tuition to college."

He had been a bit starstruck when the professional athlete had answered the door to the Cresta estate, looking up to the abilities of Finnick Odair. The combination of learning of his inspiration's past as well as being on his way to understanding Clove, caused him to give her his undivided attention. Something he rarely gives.

"Now I'm not interested in him like_ that _though, probably because he belongs to Annie and he's like my big brother, but I'll admit Finnick is attractive. With his looks and athletic abilities, it is no surprise that he was hot on the market. Taking advantage of the fact that every girl wanted to hook up with him, or at least say they hooked up with him, he began a business in which he exchanged favors for money and secrets-" The look on Cato's face causes her to take a moment to pause her stories and roll her eyes. "No, not like sexual favors. God, Davis, let me finish before you make assumptions. The favor was that he would tell everyone that he had a make out session with whatever girl came to him with a handful of cash and a secret or two."

It was beginning to become clear to him what Clove's business might entail, but a few things were left unclear. "I haven't heard any rumors of you hooking up with anybody..." He interrupts.

"First of all, don't talk when I'm in the middle of telling a story, second, it's because my business has a slight twist." She responds, slightly agitated by the fact that he thought it was okay to interrupt her. "Anyways, I run the business of rumor spreading. People come to me with a rumor, true or false, they want to be spread around the school, even the town, and I use my resources to do so. I have made people's lives better, but more so, I tear people down. Like Finnick, in exchange for my services I charge money and secrets."

The realization washed over Cato that Clove has all the power needed to run the social scene at Panem Preparatory. The status of each student was in the palm of her hand; no wonder people want to be on her good side.

"What are the secrets for?" He asks, not quite clear on why she would need secrets.

"I usually make people pay on the spot, but some people are an exception. If I end up not receiving the money they owe me then I take the secret they have given me prior to the spreading of their rumor and release it to the public." She answers simply, smirking at the memories she has of destroying those who did not play by her rules. "And not to mention, I insert rumors and secrets seamlessly into the everyday life at Panem Preparatory, making it impossible for one to sort the truths from the lies."

Cato was aware that this girl was different, but he didn't realize she was so conniving. Her sheer smugness as she speaks of her business and what she does to people made him wonder her reasons for pulling a scheme like this.

In fact, the more answers he received about Clove, the more questions he had.

* * *

**AN: There you have it, Clove runs the rumor mill. Now that you all have the basic information of the business down, we're going to get into the drama and, of course, the Clato. **

**Thank you bunches for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! Please continue to write reviews, I'm quite a busy girl and I want to make sure the time I'm taking to write out this Clato idea is entertaining at least a few people. **

**xx**


	4. Chapter 4

The top two things Cato Davis has to fight back about is people telling him what to do and people criticizing his work. However, when Clove gave him a string of demands followed by "you're doing it all wrong"s, he forced himself to bite back retorts. At this moment getting on Clove's good side was far more important than getting the last word.

"Davis! How many times do I have to tell you? Upperclassman clients are number one priority over underclass men, unless stated otherwise!"

Sighing, Cato removes the index card from the 'Top Priority' folder and places it in the 'Second Priority' folder. The past half hour working in the Cresta kitchen with Clove has taught him that she is nothing short of a perfectionist. Every single index card has the client, rumor request, and price transcribed in Clove's tidy handwriting. The cards containing high priority rumor requests had color codes star stickers in the corner and some had money clipped to them if the client was smart enough to make a down payment.

Cato would much rather be handling the secrets of the clients than organizing rumor requests, but Clove immediately denied this, saying it was a security precaution that she work with the secrets. He wasn't going to complain though, as he didn't want to give Clove a reason to shatter his ever growing social status at Panem Preparatory. During their few encounters it was clear that he was one of many people who irritated her, meaning he was leaning towards her bad side. Even so, he still managed to become her assistant, something that honestly surprised him, especially in such a short amount of time. He didn't allow himself to be completely pleased, based on her reputation she probably has some sneaky motive for letting him join her business.

"So when do we get to work with the drama and destroying of people's lives?" He speaks up after a few minutes of hard working silence, eager to see and learn exactly how Clove operates her business.

"There is no 'we', Cato."

Ignoring her jab, he smirks. "Ah, using the first name I see. We're making progress, Clove." This earned him a smack on the head. "My God! I was kidding!" He scowls, bringing a hand to the side of his head.

"I wasn't." She sneers.

He admits an exasperated sigh; Clove made it near to impossible to control himself. After receiving a sharp look, he quickly goes back to sorting index cards.

The two of them continue to work intently for nearly ten more minutes until the sound of heels against the hardwood floor attracts their attention.

"Glimmer, get your elephant feet out of my Jimmy Choos!" Clove demands loudly as Cato fails to cover his laughter.

"But Clove!" Glimmer shrieks in protest, stomping her designer clad foot on the floor.

"I'll get you a damn pair for your birthday! Just take them off before you ruin them!" With the offer of designer high heels, Glimmer was quick to kick the heels of. Clove nods her approval, satisfied that her shoes were no longer stuck on the blonde's three-sizes-too-big feet. Lazily unscrewing the cap off the glass bottle filled with honey lemonade, Clove turns towards Cato. "When you get to the 'R's make sure you give me Rue's rumor request, you won't even have to file it."

Before Cato can even nod his understanding of her order, Glimmer pipes up. "Rue Martin?"

"Glim. Is there another Rue at Panem Preparatory?" Clove mutters impatiently.

Cato's eyebrows furrow, as they always do when he enters a state of confusion. "The tiny sophomore who trails behind Peeta's girlfriend?" It didn't make sense to him that the seemingly quiet and sweet girl would have a rumor to spread. "That's the one." Clove says. "She's is a sweetheart, but she's also quite the little sneak. In fact, Rue is one of my best clients, always playing by the rules."

* * *

**AN: So our little sweetie Rue is a client... **

**Anyways, sorry about the length of this chapter, it's a bit of a filler chapter. I've been very busy and not very inspired with this plot at the moment. Let me know what you all think, because I might not be continuing this... We'll see though, the excitement I had for this story might come back. **

**Hugs, my babies! **

**xx**


	5. Update

At the moment I am discontinuing Reckless Sins... I was just loosing inspiration and not writing it to the best of my ability. I started a new Clato fanfic that will hopefully be written better and has more of a direction. I may come back and finish Reckless Sins if I have more ideas and time. If you have a second, please take a look at Astray from Alignment.

Thank you.

xx


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